Out To Get Me
by Kayla-kun
Summary: It seems Near is accidentally infuriating everyone he meets, will he be retaliated against, or will he survive? Read to find out.


I walked through the cafeteria as if I were a zombie. I barely thought about my actions, they were routine. I made it to an empty table and sat down, enjoying my lunch in solitude. I ignored the noises buzzing around the room and focused on my food. It tasted bland, but that was to be expected. Everything that was happening was all to be expected because each day was the same.

After finishing my lunch, I got rid of my tray and headed for the door. On my way, I accidentally bumped into someone. I looked up to see a tall boy with short brown hair. I didn't recognize him. That didn't come as a surprise to me though, I hardly payed much attention to anyone at Wammy's. He looked annoyed. He gave me a dirty look and I ignored him, continuing on my way.

When I entered the common room, there was another boy I didn't recall. This one also had fairly short hair, but his was blond. He also wasn't as tall as the last boy and he was wearing tattered old jeans. He might have been good-looking if it weren't for that large and atrocious lump on his face called a nose. The only reason why this boy even registered in my thoughts was due to his actions.

He had my puzzle laid out in front of him, and he couldn't seem to find any pieces that matched. It was a fairly simple puzzle compared to the ones I usually did, so I wondered how he could have that much difficulty with it. I guessed that he wasn't in any of the advanced classes that I attended, which not only explained his lower level of intelligence, but also why I didn't know who he was.

I silently sat down across from him, and began assembling the pieces. To my surprise, he swiped the pieces out of my hand. Since I was not used to such behavior I stared back blankly. I wasn't mad, I didn't care much at all. I was confused, though, but I made sure not to allow the emotion to reach my face.

"Whats a matter, little Near? Don't know what to do?" Even though I did not know who he was, I expected him to recognize me. Having the number one ranking had no doubt drawn the attention of every student living here. Almost everyone just ignored my existence and didn't really care. A few looked up to me and thought of me as a second idol, right below L. There were also those who did not like me. Some of them even despised me.

"..."

"C'mon aren't you angry? Upset? Anything? Why don't you cry, you little loser." This boy voice grated against my eardrums, but I calming ignored it. This kid was obviously one of the many children who disliked me. At that moment I heard the voice of the one who hated me the most.

"Dammit, Matt, will you ever get your head out of that video game?" I looked up to see Matt and Mello stroll into the room. Matt was rapidly punching buttons on his small, portable gaming device.

"Yes, as soon as I beat it." Matt said in a distracted tone. Mello huffed.

"Yeah, but then you'll just start playing another one. You are way too addicted."

"Look who's talking, you're the one who has been munching on chocolate all day long, just like you have done every day since I met you."

"Yes, but there is a difference. I can still concentrate and pay attention to you while I eat." Proving his point, Mello snapped off a chunk of chocolate while listening to Matt speak.

"I can pay attention, I'm talking to you now, aren't I?"

"But you're not looking at me, plus you're tone makes you sound like you don't want to talk to me. You're practically ignoring me!"

"Yeah! Take that! Yes, I finally beat you. Uh.. I'm sorry, what did you just say Mello? I just won against this really hard boss, so I wasn't listening for a few seconds."

"My point exactly!"

"Huh?"

"Whatever Matt, just forget it!"

"Mello?"

"Just go play you're game, leave me alone."

"But Mello, whats wro-"

"No, just shut up! You can go play your stupid game all you want now, I don't feel like talking to you anymore." Matt looked hurt but he wasn't one to argue. No one ever tried to defy Mello's orders. Most of the students feared him. I thought Matt and myself were the only ones who weren't petrified of the most likely insane blonde. Matt still followed Mello's demands, though. He did it because he could recognize that Mello was in a bad mood and needed space. He silently left the room and I could hear the sounds of the next level on his game slowly fade away until they were silent. Mello took a deep breath and then opened his eyes. He noticed the boy seated by my puzzle. He looked a bit surprised.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Well, my name is-"

"Never mind, I don't care."

The boy looked slightly upset by Mello's words. Mello didn't noticed, or if he did, he didn't care. Instead, he turned to me.

"So Near, is he you're new little friend or something?" Mello asked, trying to sound indifferent.

"No, he was here when I got here. I don't know this boy."

"Oh," he said sharply. Mello didn't look like he cared, but I had a feeling he did. I wasn't sure why he would, though. Perhaps it was my imagination, but then again, I never used my imagination. I looked back at the nameless boy and noticed he was scowling at me. I didn't see what I did that could have upset him.

Since I knew the boy wouldn't let me do my puzzle and I didn't feel like dealing with a confrontational Mello, I left the common room. I went into my room to play with some of the toys I had laying around on my floor. I sat down and began building all sorts of tall towers around me. It was easy calculating how everything was to be arranged. Physics was just another subject I excelled at.

After I built, destroyed, and then re-built elaborate structures all across my room, a few hours had passed. I decided to go check the common room to see if my puzzle was available or still being occupied. When I got there, I was happy to see that the former was the case. The common room would have been vacant if it weren't for myself and Mello, who was peering out of the large glass window. He didn't appear to actually register what was out there, he seemed to be deep in thought. I didn't want to disturb him so I quietly walked over to my puzzle. Despite me efforts, some unknown force still alerted Mello of my presence. However, he only glanced at me before returning his gaze to the window.

As I sat down I noticed that none of the pieces had been put together. The boy who had been attempting it had obviously failed miserably. I studied the pieces for a moment before I began putting them together.

"That kid had been working on that for more than an hour, yet he couldn't figure anything out." I looked at to see Mello facing me. "I swear, that kid was such a dumbass. Honestly, that puzzle doesn't look _that_ hard."

"Would you like to try it?" Mello looked pretty bored, perhaps he would be willing to work on it with me.

"Naw, Matt probably misses me. He reminds me so much of pet dog. Hes always following me around and practically wags his tail whenever he sees me." He smiled at the thought of Matt with a tail and puppy ears before walking to the room's exit. My eyes followed him until he disappeared. I then continued with my puzzle until curfew.

On my way a black haired boy tripped over my leg. As he got up I just stood there, not knowing what to do or say since I wasn't the social type.

"What? Is the perfect, top-ranked Near too high and mighty to apologize?" the boy snarled. It was then that I noticed his head was strangely round. It was a almost a perfect sphere and lacked any shape of normal human anatomy. His eyes were also a little too widely spaced. When the boy saw I wasn't going to say anything, he angrily got up and headed for his door.

I entered my own room, immediately lying on my bed. I didn't feel like changing and I didn't need to, either. I had been wearing a plain white set of pajamas the whole day. I loved how convenient my wardrobe was and it wasn't long that I sank into sleep.

Some hours later, I was abruptly awoken but the sound of voices outside of my door. I looked at my clock to see that it was in the middle of the night. My door opened and all three boys I had upset walked through.

"Hey, little twit! You look surprised. After how cruel you were to each of us today, you honestly didn't expect a punishment?" The oldest boy taunted. He was the one with the brown hair that I crashed into in the cafeteria. I couldn't believe that the three of them were that upset about the minor things I had done to them. I figured their real motive was jealousy of the fact that I was number one. I thought they were imbeciles. At least Mello had the decency not to wake me up late at night and threaten to give me a "punishment" even though he clearly hated me more than these fools.

The other two boys grabbed my arms and legs, interrupting my thoughts. They brought me against the wall and their leader slowly walked over to me, smirking as he did so.

"Good, hold him just like that. Now, Near, I'm going to damage some of your brain cells, so that way you won't be number one, anymore because I don't think a little brat like you deserves that rank." He cackled and raised his fist. I closed my eyes and waited for the pain. I had never been hit before so I didn't know what to expect. I heard a loud noise and thought that I had been struck. Strangely I felt no pain. I slowly peeked my eyes open.

"Okay, what the hell is going on in here?!?" Mello demanded. It was then that I realized that the bang I heard was from him whipping my door open.

"Mello!" The leader exclaimed happily. "I'm so glad your here. I know you hate Near the far more than I do, and it would be my honor to allow you to deliver the first punch." He stepped away from me and made room for Mello.

"You want me to deliver the first punch?" Mello said gleefully. He had a mischievous gleam in his eyes. I cowered further into the wall. The other boys didn't really scare me, but I knew that Mello was probably capable of murder.

"Yes, of cou-" Wham! Mello's fist collided with a jaw, making a loud cracking noise. The leader stumbled backwards in shock.

"Whats with that look? You said I could have the first punch but I don't remember you specifying who." Mello gloated, happy that he tricked everyone in the room.

"But Mello! You hate Near, so why did you punch me? I'm on your side!" The leader protested, clutching his jaw.

"The only thing I hate are retards that think that just because they are dumbasses, they can go around punching out anyone who actually has a brain! So no, you're not on my side."

"Then why did you come to Near's room in the middle of the night? Didn't you want to sneak in so you could hurt just like we're going to?"

"No, I had been coming back from the bathroom and I heard you, so I came in to see what was going on."

"But, Mello! Punishing Near could help you. We could threaten to beat him up if he doesn't stop trying so hard. Then you could become the successor to L."

"I don't want to win through force. That's not winning, its cheating. Someday I'll become smarter than Near. I won't have any help from losers like you, and I will achieve my victory fairly."

"Well fine, Mello. You don't have to participate. We have our own reasons for wanting to beat up Near."

"I can't let you do that." Mello crossed him arms and stood protectively in front of me. I was surprised, to say the least.

"But why? This doesn't involve you!"

"It involves justice. And anything related to justice involves me. Near has done nothing wrong and doesn't deserve any form of punishment, unlike you bastards." Mello spat the last three words.

"Well, if that's how it is, then I guess we'll have to take you down first. Boys, let go of Near and grab Mello" Mello only laughed. I thought those boys were even stupider than before. One look at Mello's muscled arms should send anyone in their right mind running.

"If you touch me, Sphere-Head. I'll rip that deformed head of yours right off! Same goes for you, Big Nose." The two angrily tried to attack Mello but he easily dodged them. He then kicked one in the stomach while simultaneously pushing his fist through the other's face. I heard the same cracking noise as when Mello had attacked the leader.

As the two assaulted boys fell to the floor, Mello turned towards the other boy and grinned like a serial killer. The leader backed up, terrified. He bolted from the room, his minions not far behind him. Mello's expression softened as he faced me.

"Are you hurt?" It surprised me how gentle his tone was.

"No, they didn't get a chance to do anything to me."

"I thought so, but I was just making sure. Those wimps' bones were so soft that my fist doesn't even ache a little from punching them." Mello's proud smile returned for a moment as he flexed his fingers, before fading again.

"But, Near, are you okay?"

"Yes, I told you, I-"

"I know you weren't physically, but what about emotionally?"

"Do you really have to ask such a pointless question? You know me better than anyone else does."

"That's true. In fact, I know you well enough that I can see that you have emotions. You just hide them very well."

"I-" I couldn't finish my sentence. I didn't think anyone could see through my shield.

"You're not as hard to read as you think." Mello smiled triumph.

"I think we should return to bed now," was my response.

"You're probably right, but if those boys notice me leaving your room, they'll come back after you."

"Well, you could stay here then, I guess. But only if its not too much trouble."

"No, its not. Do you have any spare blankets I could use to make the floor a little more comfortable?"

"No I don't. Besides you are going out of your way to protect me and its the least I can do to share my bed." Mello's eyes widened and his face turned pink.

"O-Okay, if that's not a problem for you."

"No, not at all. There is plenty of room for the both of us." I laid down and Mello awkwardly accompanied me, pulling the covers over us both." I sighed, finally relaxing from the events that had occurred since I was ever so rudely awakened. I unknowingly leaned closer to Mello, my face near his chest.

"N-Near!" Unlike me, Mello had noticed our close proximity.

"Thank you, Mello." I whispered as I drifted back towards unconsciousness, curling up at Mello's side. I faintly heard him say that I was welcome before submitting to my dreams.


End file.
